It’s Time to Go Local
Local mainline churches, like this United Methodist Church in Watertown, Mass., have paid the freight for their denominations’ anti-Israel activism.
A number of Christian leaders in the U.S have sent a letter to Congress asking lawmakers to cooperate with their ongoing efforts to hold Israel to an ugly double-standard while giving its adversaries a pass. The letter, sent on Oct. 5, calls for an investigation into how U.S. aid to Israel is used. The letter asks Congress to determine if Israel uses the money in ways contrary to the cause of peace and to abuse the human rights of Palestinians. The letter acknowledges that the Palestinians have done bad things, but does not call for any investigation into the Palestinian Authority’s use of money from American taxpayers.
In a piece published in the Algemeiner, CAMERA analyst Dexter Van Zile concludes that the letter is an effort to set the stage for the upcoming national assemblies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the United Church of Christ (UCC), and the Disciples of Christ. He writes, “Their call to investigate Israeli human rights violations gives peace activists in these churches the pretext they need to recount – at next summer’s assemblies – all of the ‘terrible things’ that Israel has done – without having to recount or acknowledge the mistakes the Palestinians have made.”
Van Zile states that the leaders and peace activists of these churches have proven “incorrigible” and that it’s time for people to take their case to local churches in their communities. In a piece published by the Joint News Service (JNS), he writes:
Rabbis should consider whether or not they can, in good conscience, participate in upcoming interfaith Thanksgiving celebrations with pastors from denominations that assist in the demonization of the Jewish homeland. If they decide they can’t, they should go public with their decision.
The mainline demonization of Israel has been a national story.
Now it’s time to make it a local story.
The Jewish state sets the gold standard for human rights in the Middle East. It treats its enemies, dissidents and minorities with greater humanity than every other country in the region. And yet the leaders mainline Protestant churches are very quick to condemn Israel while giving Arab and Muslim countries in the region a pass for their misdeeds.
The members of these churches can put a stop to this demonization.
Will they?
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